Liquid crystal display (LCD) technology is dominant for many flat panel display applications, ranging from low-power handheld mobile phones to large scale high definition (HD) televisions. LCD systems typically include a liquid crystal material, switching devices (such as thin-film transistors (TFTs)) and color filters. In operation, light from a light source passes through all of the components of the LCD system until it reaches a display screen, to produce an image.
In general, optical loss mechanisms may occur as the light is transmitted through various components of the system. Although it is desirable that the optical efficiency of the LCD system be as high as possible, typically less than about 5% of the total light output from the light source is generally available at the display screen of the conventional LCD system.
The liquid crystal material is typically provided between two transparent electrodes, such as indium-tin-oxide (ITO) electrodes, which induce a bias to the liquid crystal material. One mechanism for optical loss in the LCD system may occur because of a refractive index mismatch between the ITO electrodes and other adjacent components. In general, it is desirable to reduce the optical loss in the LCD system without deteriorating the material properties of each component.